City of St. Mary’s Point
City Council Meeting – February 1, 2005
PRESENT: Mayor Jones, Councilmembers, Farnham, Jacobson,
Williams, and Theede
ABSENT: None
CALL TO ORDER.
Mayor Jones called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. The City
Clerk took roll call.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE.
The Pledge was recited by everyone in attendance.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA.
Mayor Jones requested that the Engineer’s Report be removed from the
agenda since Mr. Simons will not be here tonight. Motion by
Councilmember Jacobson, seconded by Councilmember Williams to approve
the agenda, as amended. Motion passed 5-0.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES.
Mr. Niedzwiecki suggested a correction to the minutes on page 5 to say
“ Tom Niedzwiecki will loan the monitor”, not “donate the
monitor”. Motion by Councilmember Jacobson, seconded by
Councilmember Williams to approve the January 4th, 2005 minutes, as
amended. Motion passed 5-0.
PUBLIC CONCERNS.
There were no public concerns at this time.
SHERIFF’S REPORT.
There was not a Deputy at the meeting to give a report.
2005 PERMIT FEE SCHEDULE.
City Attorney Vierling presented a proposed ordinance regarding the fee
schedule to the Council. The changes, as requested by the
Council, were made to the fee table. The Council discussed
further changes regarding subdivision fees. The Council decided
on deleting the simple subdivision fees and instead have two different
categories: minor subdivision and major subdivision, with separate fees
for each.
Motion by Councilmember Fanham, seconded by Councilmember Theede to
pass Ordinance 2005-01, amending the Code of Ordinances. Motion
passed 5-0.
CITY PLANNER.
Councilmember Farnham reported that he, Mayor Jones, and Louise Russell
met with John Glomski, the proposed City Planner. They went
through a list of objectives at the meeting with Mr. Glomski. Mr.
Glomski prepared a memorandum, following the meeting, and forwarded it
to all of the Councilmembers. Councilmember Farnham went through
the memorandum with the Council.
The contract for the City Planner has been reviewed by the City
Attorney and is ready to be signed. One of the recommendations
made by Mr. Glomski in the memo is having a published Planning
Application Schedule. It would include a standard schedule for
Planning Commission meeting dates, Council meeting dates, and deadlines
for the plans.
Councilmember Farnham requested the Councilmembers look through the
procedures proposed by Mr. Glomski, and then provide feedback to
him. He will then meet with Mr. Glomski and address any
concerns. The City Clerk will provide copies of the current
variance application, and checklist forms to Councilmember Farnham.
Mayor Jones indicated that there are two issues before the
Council. The first is what is proposed in the Planner’s
memorandum, and the second issue is the contract. The Council
decided to vote on the contract consideration at the March meeting.
CITY ATTORNEY’S REPORT.
City Attorney Vierling reported there was a data request made by a
residen, which the City responded to, and was subsequently
challenged. He made a written submission to the State of
Minnesota. His office has not received a response yet, but he
will notify the City when they receive one.
Mr. Vierling inquired of the Council about the issue regarding
guidelines for closed meetings. Councilmember Williams asked him
how could the City negotiate a property without giving notice to the
general public. Mr. Vierling replied that the City staff would
need to make contact with the individual. If the Council has an
interest in a particulular parcel, then an individual Councilmember
could discuss it with the seller. Councilmember Williams added
that the City has never purchased property, but they may need to look
in that direction. He asked if the Council could direct the City
Attorney to do it? Mr. Vierling replied that they could talk
about it further.
Mr. Vierling responded on the inquiry regarding junk vehicles. He
stated that there are two primary provisions in ordinances. The
first is under the zoning code, the exterior storage provisions.
They determine what can be stored outside of a residence. The
second provision is under the nuisance code. It determines a
nuisance vehicle as unlicensed and inoperable. Under any
scenario, he recommends the Sheriff’s Department visit the property,
talk with the home owner, and then prepare a report. They may
then recommend a civil injunction. If there are complaints
regarding junk vehicles, the City Clerk will contact the Sheriff.
The Sheriff will verify that the vehicle is unlicensed and photograph
the vehicle. Councilmember Williams asked about the cost of the
injuction process. Mr. Vierling replied that it can run between
$1500 to $2500 per vehicle. Mr. Williams replied that this is way
too expensive for this City, and we can not afford this. He would
recommend a citation be issued instead of the civil injunction.
Councilmember Farnham suggested sending a letter to residents, in
conjuntion with the Spring Clean-up Day information.
ENGINEER’S REPORT.
Engineer, Dave Simons, did not appear at the meeting. At the
City’s request, he did prepare a letter to a resident regarding the
metal posts in their yard, which were in the City right-of-way. A
copy of the letter was given to the Council.
TREASURER’S REPORT.
City Treasurer, Tom Niedzwiecki gave his financial report for the month
of January 2005.
He added that the HUD money, for City Hall improvements, has not been
received yet.
Motion by Councilmember Willams, seconded by Councilmember Theede to
pay the bills with checks number 2330 through 2347 with the exception
of 2346 and the electronic payments for a total of $11,383.54.
Motion passed 5-0.
MAYOR’S REPORT.
Mayor Jones brought up the issue of buckthorn. There was an
article in the last Lake St. Croix Beach newsletter that stated they
have a program to help residents deal with buckthorn.
Councilmember Theede will contact Lake St. Croix Beach for more
information regarding their program.
Mayor Jones reported that he got final notice from the Washington
County All-Hazard Mitigation program. The final plan is going to the
State for approval. The program keeps the City included in
considerations for future FEMA reimbursements.
He added that the City Clerk is adding the edits, that were previously
approved, to the Comprehensive Plan that were suggested by the Met
Council.
Mayor Jones reported that there is another handbook from League of
Minnesota Cities. It includes sample administrative policies and
procedures. The handbook costs $60. He would like to have
that available for staff at City Hall. The City Clerk will order
the book.
COUNCIL REPORTS.
Councilmember Farnham
a.) He will work on getting some feedback from the
Sheriff’s Department regarding the traffic issues.
Councilmember Jacobson
a.) She looked at new Council chairs at Office Max,
which are $49 apiece. Mr. Niedzwiecki offered to have his son
pick up the chairs, with a $20 delivery charge.
She has the HUD papers and will finish filling them out.
She attended the Cable Commission meeting with Mike Shafer.
She reported that Peg and Ray Zemke are willing to serve on Parks
Commission and help clean up Sunset Beach.
She invited everyone to the benefit Snoball Dance at the Hudson Golf
Club. The $35 donation goes towards the food shelf.
Councilmember Williams
a.) He reported that the Fire Department will be
purchasing an ambulance during the third quarter. They are also
looking at an 8% increase in the 2006 budget, which means they will
need to come before each of the Cities for approval because it is over
the 5% agreed to in the Joint Powers Act. He is not happy with an
8% annual increase, and would like to see the increase at 5% or less.
He reported that the fire runs for last year totaled 345 runs.
That includes medical and fire runs. It is causing a problem when
an ambulance run is billed because Medicare only pays about $300 of the
$600 costs. Because of the huge number of runs, the costs are
getting out of control. Last year about $20,000 of the budget was
for ambulance costs.
He went to the Fire Department’s yearly dinner. A number of local
officials were there also.
Regarding the buckthorn issue, he reminded the Council, that all of the
other 4 cities in this area, are allowed to dump their brush at the
Cemstone pit. He would hope that the Mayor may be able to work on
this, and help get the residents approval to dump brush at Cemstone.
Councilmember Theede
a.) He reported that City Clean-Up Day is scheduled
for April 23 from 8am - Noon. He asked the Council if they are
sure about having the Clean-Up again this year, and if so, at what
cost. He doesn’t think the dumpsters should be kept here over
night due to all of the problems from last year. Councilmember
Williams asked what the cost was last year? Mr. Niedzwiecki
replied that $2600 was spent last year, and they budgeted $3200 for
this year. Councilmember Theede will contact Linda at St. Croix
Beach to work out the details of the Clean-Up. He will also
contact Waste Management to determine if it is going to be okay to have
the dumpsters removed right away.
CLERK’S REPORT.
The City Clerk reported that the Board of Appeal and Equalization
meeting for the City will be held Tuesday, April 26 at 6:30pm.
Councilmember Jacobson volunteered to attend the informational meeting
that is required.
ADJOURNMENT.
Motion by Councilmember Theede, seconded by Councilmember Farnham to
adjourn the Council meeting at 8:58 p.m. Motion carried.
Respectfully submitted,
Donald R. Jones, Mayor
Holly A.
Whalen, City Clerk